Tags: nano electro-mechanical systems

Description

Nano Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS) are tiny
machines built at the nanometer scale. Current
NEMS applications are simple machines, such as
the tiny cantilever shown at the right. An electrical circuit measures the deflection
of the lever. A larger version of this device,
with dimensions at the micrometer or millimeter
scale, is commonly used as an airbag sensor in
automobiles. A sudden stop causes a strong
deflection of the lever, which signals that
the airbags should be deployed. At the nano
scale, such a lever is sensitive enough to
measure the weight of individual atoms or
molecules resting upon it.

Learn more about NEMS from the
resources available on this site, listed below.

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